This weekend, club association Berlin Club Commission and European NEWnet will host a conference dedicated to our favorite nighttime activity. With topics like nightlife culture, economy, safety and urban planning, the program takes place in some of the very clubs attracting music lovers to the city. Monument will be present to learn more about the possibilities and challenges the international club industry faces today.
Looking back at some of the happenings this year, several clubs and other nightlife representatives have had a rough time with police, local governments and politicians. Only in Berlin does it seem like the city has managed to maintain a functioning and progressive policy for nightlife. This contrast was well-illustrated in the media the past months. While the international club community wept and raged over Fabric London threatening to get closed, the Berlin Senate hailed world-famous techno club Berghain as an establishment of high culture.
Protesters outside Fabric London. Photo: Save Fabric campaign
The Nights conference states in their press release that “Berlin is a great example showing clearly that nightlife is not only an important place for culture. One of the most important indicators for urbanization is an attractive range of nightlife activities. Thanks to this attractiveness, a lot of creative start-ups are situated in Berlin. Big companies even advertise the Berlin nightlife in their vacancies.” Indeed, for an outsider Berlin is a haven of music and culture – where everything must be possible, even legal.
We have previously written about some of the goings-on in the techno scene, and the cultural context to the music we love. At the conference, we hope to extend this to learn more about both specific and more contextual situations from the subjects presented. Can the strategies and work behind the scene in Berlin be adapted to other cities, and how are the cities cooperating together? Is everything really possible in Berlin, or do they have their own issues to deal with?
From an Open air party in Berlin. Photo: Jason Krüger
Monument will be present in Berlin from 24-27th of November. Are you in Berlin this weekend too? We would love to meet up and discuss the issues and possibilities of your scene, as we know this is a global issue. Drop us an e-mail: contact@mnmt.no
Our impressions, talks and experiences in Berlin will be presented to our readers on mnmt.no after the conference. Follow us on Instagram for updates during the conference.
stadt-nach-acht.de – Nights 2016 takes place from Thursday 24th – Saturday 26th November in Watergate, Musik & Frieden and Salon zur Wilde Renate.